Criminal Schemes & Making Money

[owen]

On 4/25/2020 at 8:15 PM, Sami said:

Why are the three most lucrative criminal activities on this list, and three most commonly occurring criminal activities labelled as last resort?

Drug and Weapon trafficking is not by any means last resort, whether large or small scale.

Boosting cars, also not a last resort activity, extremely lucrative if you build your connections.

Residential Burglaries, ALSO not last resort.

Drug and weapon trafficking (in America, and especially LA) is a last resort. The fundamentals and intricacies of selling guns and drugs (to a scale of making serious amounts of money) is a last resort, even if you're not specifically doing it and merely taking a cut from a guy who's getting a cut from a guy. 

 

Trafficking guns in America is a lucrative but sought after business by the FBI and the ATF. Commonly, guns are trafficked via straw-purchasing. A straw purchase refers to the process whereby somebody (the actual buyer) uses someone else (the ’straw buyer’) to legally purchase a firearm and handle, if there is any, the paperwork for them. 

 

For instance; James Lopez drives with his girlfriend Amy Coombs to a gun store in Paleto Bay and has her purchase five 9mms. 

 

This is now a legal purchase from the start, but obviously illegal when they pass it over (and will land you in a US prison for a minimum of 5-15 years depending on the severity, money made and consistency) and this is why it is considered a last resort, regardless of how lucrative it is. You need to remember that in real life, this is a person's entire life at risk, and this is a niche for a singular person to do (it's just America is huge so a lot of people do it and accumulates).

 

Boosting cars is also a last resort because it's something that in real life gets you caught very quickly. Boosting cars and actually getting them chopped, sold and moved out is very un-common considering the amount of police work (and how much money is involved) put into it. Boosting cars (in California) also gets you a heavy prison sentence from the get-go, hence the last resort. It's a bad crime, and will put you in prison for a long time.

 

Residential burglaries are a last resort due to the risk involved — it's estimated that 60% of house burglaries in the US end up in either the home owner or the burglar being shot and or killed. It isn't a last resort for the crime itself, it's a last resort because of the risk/reward involved. 

 

Remember, this guide is here to put emphasis on how your character interacts around these types of activities — not the activity itself. Even career criminals threat about the above, because of how dangerous it actually is and how easy it is to get caught and have their life thrown away. 

Edited April 26, 2020 by owen

[Shvag]

One of the best guides so far! Thank you!